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'Bachelorette' Star Meredith Phillips Says She Was Drugged And Sexually Assaulted During Show

Meredith Phillips, star of "The Bachelorette" season 2, says a female masseuse assaulted her during the show.

By
Eric Shorey

Meredith Phillips.

Meredith Phillips, the star of season 2 of "The Bachelorette," said a female masseuse hired by the program drugged and sexually assaulted her.

Phillips discussed her allegations in an interview Wednesday with Steve Carbone on the Reality Steve podcast.

"She was hired [by the show] to give me a massage and she said, 'I'm going to give you a pill,'" Phillips said about the masseuse, who she did not identify. "I just assumed it was an aspirin or something to loosen up my back or a Tylenol or something, and it wasn't that, that's for sure ... The last thing I remember is she got naked and she was in the tub with me rubbing my back and rubbing areas that probably she shouldn't have. Then I was put in bed. I woke up naked. Don't remember much. I wasn't even drinking."

The incident allegedly took place inside the mansion where the show was filmed, according to E! News. Phillips said the assault occurred during the production of the show's second season in late 2003.

Phillips said she was scared to discuss the assault, fearing that she would put the show's future in jeopardy.

"I didn't speak of it until later," she explained, "because I felt weird about it and I felt violated, so I didn't know what to say or how to say it. I mean, how do you bring that up? I have kind of held it in for a long time, because in a weird way, I wanted to protect the franchise."

It's unclear if Phillips plans to take action against the masseuse.

ABC and Warner Bros., the producers and distributors of "The Bachelor" franchise (which includes "The Bachelorette"),have declined to comment on the allegations.

Phillips has previously discussed her battle with alcoholism before and after the show's completion.

This is not the first time "The Bachelor" franchise has faced accusations of misconduct on set. In June 2017, production on "Bachelor in Paradise" was halted after contestant Corinne Olympios claimed she was involved in a non-consensual sexual encounter while cameras rolled. The show conducted an internal investigation and decided no wrondoing had occurred.

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